WWE announces major star to kick off RAW

WWE announced that a major star will be kicking off tonight’s episode of RAW. This week’s show is the final episode of the red brand before Clash in Italy 2026 and will air live from the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Oba Femi demolished Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 42, and it appeared that The Beast Incarnate retired after the match. Lesnar left his boots and gloves in the ring, seemingly signifying the end of his illustrious in-ring career.

However, it was a ruse, and Lesnar recently returned to attack the Nigerian star. It has been announced that Femi and Lesnar will be squaring off once again this weekend at Clash in Italy. Ahead of WWE RAW, the promotion took to social media to reveal that Oba Femi would be kicking off tonight’s show. You can check out the company’s announcement in the post below.

Femi was called up to the main roster earlier this year. He defeated Leon Slater at New Year’s Evil 2026 to retain the NXT Championship but relinquished the title following his victory. The Ruler has been dominant on the main roster so far and held an open challenge on RAW for a few weeks following his victory over Brock Lesnar at The Show of Shows.

Former WWE star comments on working with Oba Femi

Wrestling veteran Donovan Dijak recently commented on what it was like working with Oba Femi backstage.

In a post on X, Dijak noted that Femi had a terrible win/loss record while at NXT Level-Up, but always had a positive attitude, and it could be why the company believes in him so much.

“I don’t even know if this is true or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me. WWE will often quietly test wrestlers to see if they have an attitude problem, especially if they have big plans in store. Oba obviously passed with flying colors, I never heard anything even remotely negative and he was a pleasure to work with.”

It will be interesting to see what Oba Femi has to say tonight on RAW ahead of his match against Brock Lesnar at WWE Clash in Italy.